Superconducting windings are typically formed of materials which are highly sensitive to strain such as vanadium-gallium alloys and niobium-tin alloys. In smaller superconducting magnets with lower fields the effect of strain may not be as important as in large magnets of high fields. However, the use of large, powerful, superconducting magnets is contemplated such as for example in rotating machines such as cryogenic electric generators, plasma physics, fusion devices, magnetic separators, and solid state and high energy physics. There are proposed superconducting magnets cylindrical in form with a diameter of a few meters and a length of many hundreds of meters. Large superconducting magnets are also proposed in the form of toroidal circular and "D" windings. Toroidal shapes having a major radius of approximately 20 meters and minor cross-sectional diameter of approximately 10 meters are also proposed. In such magnets the strain induced in their generally circular windings by the radial force component, or "magnetic pressure," due to the magnetic field may cause interruptions in the current flow of the windings and disrupt the field, even though that strain is well within the strain limits of the surrounding mechanical support structure. This and related problems impair the development of many contemplated superconducting magnet applications and have increased the cost of other applications and have possibly caused still other magnets to fail to meet their anticipated magnetic field levels. To prevent such problems the stress in the mechanical support structure must be limited to a level far below its capability in order to keep the strain in the windings to a level that can be tolerated by the windings without interfering with their performance.